Hen vent issue - help!

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Wordbird2007

Wordbird2007

Hatching
Jun 8, 2016
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I've been a reader on this forum for a while but haven't posted until now-- when I'm not sure what to do! I came back from vacation and found my speckled sussex had a maggot infestation around her vent. When I cleaned her off, I discovered she had something that looks like a mix between a prolapsed vent and gleet. She's been living separately from the flock in my basement peacefully, and she had gotten some pep back--I've been doing regular epsom salt baths and giving her yogurt. But her vent is obviously not healing itself and I don't know what to do.

What do you think? I'm grateful for any info and ideas. THANK YOU, forum friends! Here's a picture of her rear end after a bath:

 
Have you rubbed the area gently with a cloth to get the dead tissue or scab off? I can't see what the black is outside her vent from the picture. Are all of the maggots out? She may have suffered a prolapse that was pecked at by the other chickens. The cloaca can become dried out and black, and that skin is dead. It needs to be debrided or cleaned off until you get down to healthy pink skin. The problem with vent damage is that she may have drippy droppings or have problems laying eggs. I haven't experienced what you are going through, so I would do some searching about fly strike and prolapsed vent at the search box top of this page. Keep her vent area moist with honey or antibiotic ointment. Hopefully she will start healing.
 
Thanks for your ideas-- I'm definitely learning a lot from dealing with this! She gets very agitated when I apply any pressure to the scab. She's a lot weaker today and not eating well. I think I'm stressing her. On the one hand, hens are so tough! And on the other, they're little bodies can only take so much. But thanks, again, for your thoughts on this.
 

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